Fox News has been spared the indignity of airing out its dirty, insurrection-sparking laundry in court after reaching a last-minute settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.
The deal was brokered just hours before the defamation case against the right-wing media corporation was set to begin. According to reports, after swearing in a jury early Tuesday morning, the trial was delayed by two hours, leading reporters to believe the two parties were negotiating a settlement behind closed doors. Though we don’t yet know all the details involved in the deal, we do know that, as part of the settlement, Fox News must pay Dominion over $787 million. While that number is staggering, it’s considerably less than the $1.6 billion the company was initially seeking after claiming the lies publicized on Fox channels concerning potential incidents of voter fraud connected to Dominion machines harmed the company’s reputation.
Dominion’s attorney Justin Nelson says the settlement represents “vindication and accountability.”
“The truth matters, lies have consequences,” he continued. “Over two years ago, a torrent of lies swept Dominion and election officials across America into an alternative universe of conspiracy theories, causing grievous harm.”
For its part, Fox was forced to put out a statement acknowledging the network knew its voter fraud conspiracy theories were lies and admitting responsibility for the harm it caused while also claiming to have the “highest journalistic standards.”
New: Fox News statement on $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems: “We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.”
Of course, the settlement means that a number of high-profile on-air correspondents are now saved from testifying on the stand, but the deal is still an embarrassing result for Rupert Murdoch’s conservative brainchild. Some couldn’t help but celebrate that fact.
Let’s hope the settlement includes Fox “anchors” reading a statement on the air about their election lies and misinformation every day, on every show, for a year. #DominionvFoxhttps://t.co/H4pI5V3OSe
But the larger consensus was disappointment over the fact that we were this close to watching Tucker Carlson go full Alex Jones on the stand.
When you announce your settlement of a case involving your lies, by lying some more: “Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards” #DominionvFoxhttps://t.co/95isGIEtKD
Freddie Mercury had a voice and a stage presence unlike any other in rock music history. His unique talents helped propel the band Queen to the top of music charts and created a loyal fan base around the world.
Sadly, the world lost that voice when Mercury died of AIDS at age 45. For decades, most of us have assumed we’d heard all the music we were going to hear from him.
However, according to Yahoo! Entertainment, remaining Queen members Roger Taylor and Brian May announced this summer that they had found a never-released song they’d recorded with Mercury in 1988 as they were working on the album “The Miracle.”
“We did find a little gem from Freddie, that we’d kind of forgotten about,” Taylor said in June, according to the BBC. “It’s wonderful, a real discovery. It’s a very passionate piece.”
That “little gem” is a four-minute ballad called “Face It Alone.” Queen released a lyric video of the song on its YouTube channel, and it’s bringing fans to tears.
The lyrics are particularly heart-wrenching, considering the timing of the song’s recording. Mercury was reportedly diagnosed with HIV in 1987, though kept it a secret from the public and even from many who worked closely with him until shortly before his death.
Comments have poured in from around the world in multiple languages, and the sentiment is universal—people are deeply moved.
“Over 3 million views in one day. To hear Freddie’s voice again is so special. You live forever, darling. The song is heart breaking but then again, Queen’s songs are from the heart and that can never go wrong. Thank you to all who made it happen.” – sweet pea
“One day Freddie said: ‘I won’t be a star,I will be a Legend’And yes we all agree, he STILL REMAINS A LEGEND even after 31 years after his death. AMAZING.” – Gloria Sousa
“Freddie’s vocal is killing me same today as 20 years ago. Thank You Queen for this amazing gift after so many years. We love You.” – Adrian Kufel
“What to say?? A great magnificent surprise. All I know is that I cried the moment I heard this voice, these words…. Only Freddie. Love this man for eternity.. It seems as if he returned briefly to us!! To send us a message… What a beautiful present for all his fans, for this generation that has had the impact of the pandemic, this strange war, these strange times. So happy and touched to hear this now. Thank you Queen… Thank you Freddie forever !!!” – Fern 19671
“So great to see all the Freddie and Queen fans here today celebrating this song and Freddie’s amazing voice. I love how much Freddie is still treasured. I remember the day he passed away, how I cried. It’s like a gift to get this new song and have his song playing loud throughout the house today. We all love you dear Freddie.” – Sarah-Louise ASMR
Mercury was truly a legend in his own time, and hearing his voice anew almost makes it feel like he’s time-traveled to the here and now. What a lovely gift for Queen fans everywhere.
Whether you’re a horror aficionado or your scary threshold is at a level 2, you’re bound to be familiar with at least a couple of iconic horror movies. The horror genre is a huge part of our culture, allowing us to explore the darkest depths of the human psyche within the safety and comfort of home—or a theater, if you dare.
As counterintuitive as it might sound, watching horror movies can be more than stimulating entertainment for some people. It can act as a form of exposure therapy, helping reduce anxiety levels. Of course, this is not the case for everyone, but it certainly helps explain why the genre is so well loved and continues gaining popularity. Even in 2020—arguably an anxiety-inducing year for everyone—horror movies were the only ones to actually see a surge in ticket sales. Sometimes it’s just more cathartic to see an actual monster wreaking havoc in a fictional world than it is to think about all real-world worries that haunt our imaginations.
Still, not everyone can shake off that scary feeling that a horror movie elicits, and therefore might not partake in watching. Nonetheless, they might enjoy seeing the edge taken off with a bit of lighthearted humor. After all, it’s often recommended to watch a little comedy after a horror flick to clean out the heebie jeebies.
Jimmy Fallon asked folks to “take a horror movie and add one word to change the plot and tag it with #AddAWordRuinAHorrorMovie for his ever-popular Hashtags segment on “The Tonight Show.” Granted, some people took liberties with the rules—occasionally replacing a word in the title, for example—but nonetheless, grammatical fun was had. And well-known horror movie plots did undergo hilariously drastic changes.
Below are 23 of the best ones. Enjoy, because even those who can’t handle anything too scary deserve a little spooky entertainment.
1. “The Blair Witch Project Manager” – @ ite_mumma
Netflix didn’t have a great 2022, and it looks like there’s some big changes afoot in 2023. If you were into old-fashioned password sharing, then bad news: As long-threatened, they’re finally ready to crack down on that this quarter. Speaking of classic Netflix features going away, by the end of the summer they’re also deep-sixing the one that one it all: renting DVDs (or, these days, Blu-rays) by mail.
First things first, Varietyreports that the streamer has decided to broaden their “paid-sharing” plan, in which someone with a Netflix account can team up with one or two other households for a joint account, at an extra monthly fee. It’s cheaper than everyone getting their own account — though not as cheap, of course, as one household sharing their password with others.
Last year, Netflix effectively beta-tested that feature out in three countries, namely Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. At first it didn’t go well, but earlier this year they expanded it to Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. In a letter to their shareholders, the company said they’ve been “pleased with the results,” enough to expand it to the U.S. at some point this quarter.
About this time last year, Netflix claimed that passwords were being shared with over 100 million other households. During their Q4 earnings review last year, company co-CEO Greg Peters admitted that cracking down on password-sharing “will not be a universally popular move,” comparing it unfavorably to losing customers whenever they jack up prices.
But what of those last stragglers hanging onto the old fashioned way of using Netflix: renting physical discs over the mail? As per Deadline, they’re out of luck, too. On Tuesday the company revealed they were planning to end that feature in the fall. The last discs will be mailed out on September 29. All discs must be returned by October 27.
Thus brings an end to an era that began 25 years ago, well before the age of streaming or even widely-available high-speed internet. At the height of DVD-by-mail, in the mid-aughts, one could rent three discs at a time, mailing them back as quickly as possible. That meant if you wanted to binge an entire season of Mad Men, it would take you a week, maybe longer, rather than one slothful weekend. Pour one out for two real ones.
Then, once you get it together, you have to condense it all into a well-oiled itinerary? So. Much. Time. If you’re a planner, it might even cross your mind to drop cash on that most antiquated of professions — a travel agent.
In case you didn’t know, like a greedy octopus, AI’s getting its hands on virtually every industry and profession. Travel planning is no exception and already AI is making things exponentially more efficient. One of the coolest new AI Travel Startups to emerge is Tripnotes. Founded by Matthew Rosenburg, while still in its infancy form, it’s got the potential to revolutionize how we plan trips.
Like Chat GPT, Tripnotes is a “Generative” model, meaning it can analyze and summarize content (in this case sights, bites, and nightlife) from a large set of information. Basically, it will do all your research in just a few seconds. Then, it uses its language capacities to deliver that content in forms like lists and itineraries. One of the coolest parts of this tool is that it incorporates maps, making its interface user-friendly and visually on point, as you’ll see below.
Though there’s a waitlist to access its full features, we couldn’t wait to test this sucker out.
Behold, the homepage. With a glowing, revolving Earth, you can explore any city on the planet with available data. I thought I’d check out Los Angeles, and see if it could plan an “underground music”-themed trip.
Instantly, the atlas zeros in on the desired location and maps out all of Tripnote’s recommendations with a clean design, paired with handy hyperlinks.
While this technology is incredible and can save hours of time planning a trip, for some, that pursuit could be an essential aspect of the travel experience. Finding unique places is in and of itself, a journey, and if you want to find the rarest, coolest places, often you have to stumble into them, hear from word of mouth, and venture off the grid. Not all the coolest clubs have a ton of info available online, after all.
While Tripnotes laid out the most optimal underground music vacation on paper, how many dive bars, ciphers, and indie concerts did it overlook? It’s hard to say. Regardless, this technology offers an interesting starting point, which intrepid travelers can add a “more personal, human touch” to.
Some distillers even zero in on specific botanicals or add extra flavors after the distillation process to really kick their expressions up a notch. We’re talking about flavors like orange peel, cherry blossoms, mint, and cranberries. The best part? While added flavors can often overpower spirits like whisk(e)y, they often add to the overall flavor experience of a high-quality gin.
Below, we found you eight great flavored gins well-suited for spring sipping and mixing. Keep scrolling to see them all.
This is one for the citrus fans. Tanqueray Sevilla Orange was made to pay homage to Charles Tanqueray’s original recipe. It’s bursting with Sevilla orange flavor and other botanicals and herbs. It’s balanced, complex, and just might be one of the best gins to use as a base for a gin & tonic on the market.
Tasting Notes:
As gins go, this one’s nose is surprisingly fruity. Tropical fruits and a wallop of orange zest start everything off nicely. The palate starts with classic juniper and botanicals and quickly moves on to tropical fruits and ripe tangerine. The finish is sweet and memorable.
Bottom Line:
This citrus bomb feels like it was crafted to be the base of a classic gin & tonic. You might not even need to add a twist of citrus.
You might assume this is a Japanese gin, but it’s actually a Spanish gin that pays tribute to the flavors of Japan. It begins with Japanese botanicals and flavors like juniper, kumquats, ginger, and even dragon fruit. But, as the bottle suggests, the main flavor is cherry blossoms.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of orange peel, ginger, juniper, and other spices greet you before your first sip. There’s actually a lot going on, but no cherry blossoms right away. The palate is loaded with juniper, ginger, tropical fruits, and (finally) the expected cherry blossoms. The finish is warming, sweet, and lightly spicy.
Bottom Line:
This is a very unique gin and one that deserves a spot in your home bar. Its flavor profile is guaranteed to add new dimensions to your favorite gin cocktails.
As flavored gins go, this one is really unique. Four Pillars Olive Leaf Gin is a “savory” gin with three kinds of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil as well as olive leaf tea. The addition of bay leaf, rosemary, and other herbs and botanicals makes this the perfect base for a classic martini.
Tasting Notes:
With a floral nose, there are notes of rosemary, juniper, pepper, and orange peels. This gives way to vanilla, juniper, pine, olive oil, rosemary, and more spices on the palate. It’s a very unique gin that needs to be tasted to be believed.
Bottom Line:
You might not think you have room in your liquor cabinet for a savory gin but… you should. Especially if you enjoy a classic martini. Who needs an olive when you have all of the flavors already in the gin itself?
Prairie Organic has been quietly making great flavored gins for years — Prairie Organic Cucumber Mint & Lime Gin is its best. The addition of mint and lime gives this an herbal, citrusy, memorable flavor profile you’ll want to keep on hand for all of your mixing needs.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find fresh mint, piney juniper, cucumber, and spices. It’s a very welcoming nose. The palate is centered on juniper berries, fresh cucumber, and mint leaves. Some other herbs and botanicals give this a well-balanced, complex flavor profile.
Bottom Line:
Mint and cucumber is a pretty unbeatable gin flavor combination. Especially when it’s real organic mint and cucumber and not synthetic, generic-tasting ingredients.
Before you know anything about Empress 1908 Gin, you’ll be struck by its blueish almost indigo hue. This is because, on top of eight classic gin herbs and botanicals, it’s infused with butterfly pea blossom, which gives it its unique color.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a heavy kick of piney juniper, orange peels, and light spices. The palate is surprisingly floral with rose petals, juniper, tangerine, cinnamon, and herbal tea. The finish is a warming mix of sweetness and spice. A truly unique gin to say the least.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a complex, balanced gin that’s also a conversation starter, look no further than Empress 1908 Gin.
The classic Hendrick’s Gin flavor already has the added flavors of cucumber and rose. Hendrick’s Flora Adora Gin kicks up the flavors even more. The newest addition to its “Cabinet of Curiosities” series, it starts as the original Hendricks Gin before a secret blend of highly floral ingredients is added.
Tasting Notes:
A complex nose of juniper, lavender, rose, and ripe berries greet you before your first sip. Drinking it reveals notes of cucumber, rose petals, cinnamon, coriander, lavender, and piney juniper. It’s herbal, earthy, floral, and highly complex.
Bottom Line:
This gin smells and tastes like it has a whole, magical garden of florals, herbals, and botanicals included in its flavor profile. It’s a great gin to have on hand for spring and summer mixing.
If you didn’t read the ingredients, you might assume based on its name and the pink hue of this gin, that it was a rose-flavored gin. In fact, it’s flavored with juniper, Italian lemons, herbs, specially selected botanicals, and Sicilian pink grapefruit.
Tasting Notes:
There are a ton of pine needles, citrus peels, and wildflowers on this gin’s nose. The palate continues this trend with a very herbal, floral body with piney juniper berries, lemon peels, ripe, tart grapefruit, and just a hint of cracked black pepper.
Bottom Line:
Lemon, grapefruit, juniper, and a ton of herbal, floral, lightly spicy herbs make for an exciting base for a summer cocktail.
There’s a chance you already enjoy mixing your favorite gin with cranberry juice so why not just enjoy a gin that’s already infused with the flavor? Made with thirteen botanicals and herbs and infused with tart cranberry flavor, it’s a fruity, lightly bittersweet gin that belongs on your home bar cart.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a nice kick of cranberry on the nose, but it doesn’t smell generic. There are other fruit notes, light spices, juniper, and a hint of wildflowers as well. The palate is semisweet, lightly tart, and filled with fresh cranberry, pine, juniper, and floral, earthy, herbal botanicals.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a cranberry fan, this is absolutely the gin for you. Technically a gin liqueur, it’s a great addition to a lively, exciting gin & tonic.
It seems like Chris Evans and Ana de Armas are always out promoting movies together because they kind of are. The duo has starred alongside each other three times since 2019, and they are finally able to actually like each other for once, which must be hard because Chris Evans is so notoriously hard to like. That was a joke, to be clear. Just look at him in his little sweater.
Evans has always been publicly supportive of de Armas after the two starred alongside each other in Knives Out, then last year’s Netflix action flickThe Gray Man. Even though he didn’t want to pop in for a little SNL cameo while de Armas was hosting last week, the two are out promoting their latest film Ghosted.Evans is glad that not only are the two stars alongside each other again, but their characters actually like each other. Weird, right?
“It was nice, with this movie we finally got to interact in a more playful, banter-y sort of way,” Evans told People. In the film, de Armas plays an art curator who has a date with a well-intentioned farmer (Evans) who tries to impress her after being ghosted, only to realize that she is actually a secret agent. Dating is hard.
De Armas said the two finally got “to like each other” in a movie, which has not really happened before. “In Knives Out we’re obviously adversarial,” Evans added. “The second film, Gray Man, we didn’t have anything together, so this was fun to actually get to have some repartee and explore that type of movie.”
Evans also admitted how impressed he is with de Armas’ work ethic, considering the fact that he gets to churn out a hit movie every once in a while and then retreat from the spotlight. “Ana never stops working. She’s just right onto the next one. Meanwhile, I disappear into Massachusetts,” the actor joked. Hey, it’s always worth it when his Boston accent starts to shine.
Ghosted begins streaming on AppleTV+ on April 21st.
Jonathan Majors has reportedly been dropped by Entertainment 360 management following his March 26 arrest for alleged assault during a domestic dispute with a woman. The Marvel actor has also been dropped by the public relations firm The Lede Company, who stepped aside shortly after the allegations went public last month, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Majors was experiencing a rapid career rise thanks to this back-to-back performances in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Creed III. He was also receiving rave reviews for his role in Magazine Dreams. However, his blockbuster ascension has seemingly halted after police charged him with “two counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment in the second degree, attempted assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree.”
Within hours of the arrest being reported, Majors’ attorney denied all wrongdoing and claimed the actor would be quickly exonerated:
“Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows,” the actor’s criminal defense lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement at the time. “We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the district attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently.”
Despite claims of video evidence, the charges have not been dropped. As of this writing, the actor is still scheduled for a court appearance on May 8.
The Boys showrunner had a Supernatural reunion with Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy on The Boys‘ third season, and for Season 4, it’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s turn. Mind you, Morgan has been quite busy with being Negan on AMC’s upcoming The Walking Dead: Dead City spinoff, so it’s understood that Morgan’s Amazon Prime role is a smallish one, but it’s happening. This is also a a mystery part, and Amazon had a ball with a janky photoshop to mess with fans, but as of last week, Season 4 is a wrap.
Morgan now has a little bit of spare time to post random things on Twitter, where he shared a gift from, well, somebody. He’s not clear who gave him this sweet bracelet. A fan, a friend, his wife, Hilarie Burton? No one knows. It’s a pretty rad gift, though.
“Shoutout to the lovely lady that gave me this bracelet yesterday… thank you,” Morgan tweeted. “It says “fuckity fuck fuck” in Morse code. Perfect. Xojd.”
Shoutout to the lovely lady that gave me this bracelet yesterday… thank you. It says “fuckity fuck fuck” in Morse code. Perfect. Xojd pic.twitter.com/qtgvzIYD19
The Amazon Prime UK account was happy to take the p*ss, as Billy Butcher would probably say: “how did she know your first line in The Boys season 4 already?!”
how did she know your first line in The Boys season 4 already?!
One can only hope. And speaking of Butcher, Karl Urban snuck in a fast one last week. As he noted his inability to “post any photos from the set,” he decided to share a photo of himself with a presumably costumed Morgan “on the set of a Cadillac commercial.” Slick.
Currently, The Boys has no official Season 4 release date. However, AMC’s The Walking Dead: Dead City, co-starring Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhees, will premiere on June 18.
Back in December, Donald Trump embarrassed himself — neither for the first nor last time — when he made a major announcement that he was going to be making a major announcement. When the news finally dropped, it was about as anticlimactic as most people imagined: Trump announced a series of $99 NFTs that featured the former president Photoshopped into an array of ridiculous images he seemed to have stumble upon online. Now he’s back to fleece his followers once again with a whole new series of equally bad digital art:
While most sequels don’t quite live up to the original, the recently arrested president seems to have gone all out in order to imagine himself in a whole new set of poses that have absolutely nothing to do with who Trump is or what he has done. Unless we somehow missed the time he rocked out on stage with an electric guitar wearing all leather. Or when he threw on a pair of American flag chaps and loaded that same guitar onto his motorcycle, Easy Rider-style. Though Trump standing at a grill with a plate full of freshly cooked burgers and a trusty dog by his side might be the most absurd version of the 45th president.
But given that Trump made a reported $1 million from his first batch of NFTs, which sold out in one day — not to mention the fact that he could use a little cash influx right now, given his recent arrest and other looming indictments — maybe these cards aren’t so foolish after all.
The same, however, cannot be said for the individual who purchases 47 of them in order to have dinner with the disgraced former POTUS:
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(@1PrincessWombat) April 18, 2023
